Hyeryoung Kim

Graduate Student, MDes Program

Contact

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Curriculum Vitae

MBA, University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom
Bachelor’s Degree, Nursin, Yonsei University, South Korea

Biography

Hyeryoung enjoys crossing boundaries. She has learned from her experiences that when actors across disciplinary and sectoral boundaries work together, they can come up with innovative ways to achieve business success and advance the society’s wellbeing.

She first worked at an advertising agency, Oricom, as a copywriter after getting her Bachelor’s degree in nursing at Yonsei University in South Korea. Then, she pursued her MBA at the University of Strathclyde in United Kingdom to gain business knowledge and international exposure. Upon her return, she worked for a Korean conglomerate, SK Group. For 15 years she helped her company navigate a dynamic market environment by developing and implementing marketing and brand strategies for various products and services from arthritis patches to gas stations.

Apart from her professional work, she has been active in pro-bono and volunteer works. She has worked with various social enterprises and NGOs, including the Big Issue Korea, a Jesuit volunteer community and a free clinic for migrant workers. This social sector experience opened her eyes to an untapped potential of market-oriented approaches in creating sustainable solutions to social problems.

Looking forward, she aspires to design services and processes for those whose needs have been insufficiently met in existing social welfare systems such as the low-income elderly and patients. Her grand ambition is to create collaborative platforms where experts across geographical and professional boundaries can work on innovative solutions for challenging problems of our time. Starting the MDes program is a stepping stone to follow this dream, and she is excited to work with and learn from inspiring colleagues and mentors at the University of Michigan.